East Mesa MVD office to close

Charles Serwin now knows this much is true: his local Motor Vehicle Division office in East Mesa is slated for the state budgetary chopping block. He's just not sure when.

In an effort to stave a $100 million budget shortfall, the Arizona Department of Transportation recently announced plans to close 12 of its 61 MVD offices statewide, including the location at 7631 E. Main Street where Serwin was registering his car this week.

"It sounds like they are making it more of an inconvenience for the taxpayer," said Serwin, who relocated two years ago from Milwaukee.

While the closure will undoubtedly be an inconvenience for the average 9,640 customers the location sees per month, ADOT spokesman Doug Nintzel said the state's lingering budget crisis demanded hard decisions such as closing offices, laying off of 115 MVD staffers and freezing open positions.

That reduction is a direct result of a lack of state revenue and a $100 million budget gap ADOT must close, Nintzel said.

"We can't avoid inconveniencing some customers when we are faced in a reduction in transportation funding at the same time that revenue is declining due to the economic situation," he said.

To reduce spending by 25 percent, ADOT recently announced it would temporarily close 13 highway rest areas; defer $370 million in highway construction projects; halt various maintenance projects; consolidate services; reduce staff by 10 percent; and close 12 MVD offices.

The MVD closures are awaiting approval of the U.S. Department of Justice. Federal authorities must ensure the closures comply with civil-rights laws because the locations serve as voter registration sites.

Once the federal government signs off, the offices will close and the staffers reassigned to other offices. However, ADOT officials are not sure when that will be.

In considering which offices to close, state officials considered customer traffic numbers, the proximity to other offices and the condition of the facility. The East Mesa office suffers from a lack of parking, and the lot has flooding issues, Nintzel said.

The busiest MVD location in the state is in Tucson, which serves as a regional office and sees about 26,000 customers per month. The busiest in the Valley is near 51st Avenue and Indian School Road in Phoenix, which sees about 18,000 customers monthly.

With the closure of the East Mesa office, which processes about 11,000 transactions per month, visitors must now rely on two other Mesa offices and one in Apache Junction, including: